


Under The Barrier

by MajorIndecision



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: I can't write a pairing because I don't know where I'm going with this yet, I don't know what I'm doing, Other, Please don't judge me DX, They'll all be in there eventually, god help me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-12 12:03:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5665405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MajorIndecision/pseuds/MajorIndecision
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You don't remember anything, waking up outside of a small town on the surface meant for the monsters of the human world. You've got nowhere to go, and not many choices to make concerning who you stay with or how you act. You need to find your past, but you've currently got no way of doing that.</p><p>And yet, he knows something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Strike A Chord](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5387150) by [LilyHellsing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyHellsing/pseuds/LilyHellsing). 



> I am very new to this site, and I have no clue what I'm doing. Be kind, please. I don't know where I'm going with the story yet in terms of romance, so I haven't listed a pairing, but I might add one later. I'm also going to note that the reader is someone from the Undertale franchise, and it's really obvious. Sorry about that. Anyway, onto the story! Please don't shoot me. I tried DX  
> Also, this is taken from a profile of mine on a different site known as Quotev. I wrote it there first, and decided to move it here.

The cold licked at your toes and you shivered inwardly, raising yourself up to find that you were in the forest. You got up quickly, startled, even frightened at your surroundings and even more so by your lack of memory. You could barely remember your own name and what you were taught in school and that scared you more than being out in the forest in the middle of the night. Solemnly, you studied your surroundings: it was dark, barely enough so to see near the line of trees, of which looked dead in this light and of this hour, bare without leaves and frost glimmering on their trunks, which seemed to raise for miles into the heavens, though you weren’t sure as you couldn’t see their top.  
You vaguely remembered the monsters crossing over onto the surface. You remembered watching it on the news, anyway. You hadn’t seen any evidence of these monsters yet, and so you, albeit slightly subconsciously, believed that perhaps your memory was playing a trick on you--an even bigger one than it had when you first awoke, though excluding almost all details from your personal life came in at a very close second.  
You glanced around the forest, suddenly nervous. Of course, if there were monsters on the surface, that would mean that you were likely to be an excellent buffet, should a hungry one come through this area, if the news was to be believed. This was the same station that lied about everything from food prices to terrorist attacks, however, so you didn’t take their words to heart. This made you feel a bit better, and you began to go on your way, occasionally glancing around to see if anything was amiss.  
Eventually, you neared a town, which you figured must have been where you lived. Of course, you had no clue--you didn’t even know if you had a home at all. You looked relatively clean, and well fed not to the point of overweight, so you figured that you must have had a home recently, and since you were nearest to it, concluded that the town must be where that home was. You paused, thinking over what you were to do. Surely, it would be difficult to just go around inquiring about yourself without arousing suspicion or perhaps worry, if these people were particularly kind. However, you had no other plan of action. Maybe you could just ask for someplace to stay, or money, or…  
“SANS!”  
A loud yell interrupted your thoughts, and you jumped visibly. You looked around for the source, startled, and found two skeletons arguing over something. You hid yourself, slightly frightened by the appearance of monsters, and two of them, at that. Just your luck--first you lose your memory and wake up in the middle of an unfamiliar forest, and then you run into not one, but two beings who could possibly wish to harm you…  
“what? you gotta admit, i got you pretty good, bro.”  
“IT’S THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, SANS! WHY WOULD YOU LIE TO ME LIKE THAT?!” The shorter skeleton shrugged at the taller’s question.  
“dunno. seemed like a good idea at first.”  
“SANS!” The taller skeleton yelled again, frustrated. Hesitantly, you leaned forward in an attempt to see better, as your vision was limited beyond the taller skeleton, however you ended up falling out of your hiding spot like an idiot. You quickly scurried up to your feet and froze tensely, both seeing and inwardly sensing that both skeletons were staring at you.  
"OH, HELLO! ARE YOU NEW HERE?” The taller skeleton, yelled, though you suspected that that was his normal speaking voice. You could barely stutter out a response to his question before the shorter skeleton, who you assumed to be Sans, approached you, almost looking entranced.  
“is it really you?” He murmured lowly, much to your surprise.  
"I-I-I’m sorry, wh-what?” You spoke, wincing at both the stutter and the dryness of your throat. Sans only stared at you, his right ‘eye’ disappearing and the left beginning to glow blue. You backed up into a wall, fear evident on your features and movements.  
"SANS! YOU’RE SCARING THEM!” The other skeleton yelled, grabbing Sans by the shoulder. Sans looked back at his brother, returning to normal before looking back over at you. The way he stared...it seemed familiar, however not in a good way, you sensed. It was very alarming and it was all you could do to keep from running or screaming. God, you felt like such a wimp...  
"...do you remember me?” He inquired, breaking through your thoughts, to which you rapidly shook your head.  
“N-No. I don’t remember anything…” You murmured, trembling, jumping slightly as the other skeleton spoke...well, screamed, really. He really needed a remote to control and definitely lower his volume.  
“OH, WELL NICE TO MEET YOU ANYWAY! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND THIS IS MY BROTHER, SANS! I’M SURE YOU’VE HEARD OF ME, EVEN IF YOU FORGOT. I AM VERY GREAT, OF COURSE!” The taller--er, Papyrus yelled, grinning, striking a heroic pose.  
“N-Nice to meet you, too…” You murmur, still uneasy about Sans’ stare, and unsure about Papyrus’ energy and eccentric movements and volume. “I-I’m…um…” Funny. You had remembered your name before, and yet now you couldn’t have had a more vague idea of what it could possibly be. Started with…a G? No, a…W? You were unsure.  
“NICE TO MEET YOU, UM!” Papyrus yelled, grinning.  
“that’s not his name, bro. he just can’t remember…” Sans muttered cryptically, watching you with a stare that sent chills down your spine.  
"CAN WE KEEP HIM, SANS? HE LOOKS LOST.” Papyrus yelled after a few moments of silence.  
“I… Wha? K-Keep me…?” You barely knew these people, if they could be called that, and yet here one of them was, referring to you as though you were a stray cat. However, maybe you were… You hadn’t gotten a very good look at yourself. You just noticed a strange feeling in your hands, though it seemed familiar, which was strangely comforting, or at least enough so that you hadn’t bothered to check what exactly it was.  
"...sure, bro. he can stay with us.” Sans said, looking over at Papyrus, who grinned broadly, yelling. “WONDERFUL! SOMEONE TO TASTE THE GREAT PAPYRUS’ SPAGHETTI!”

And so, before you knew it, you were thrown into the world of monsters and dragged off to Papyrus and Sans’ house.


	2. A Rough Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm uploading this immediately after the one before, because, as I said, I'm transferring this from another site I work on, so I don't know if people like this or not, or if changes need to be made. If anyone actually reads this, please inform me if you do like it or if anything does need to be modified. Thanks for reading :)

"I SHALL MAKE YOU MY FAMOUS SPAGHETTI!" Chimed Papyrus as he stepped in, letting the door swing and hit you by accident. You winced as you caught it a bit late, rubbing at your arm.  
"i guess you could say that dumble really a-doors you." Sans said, grinning. You couldn't help but smile at the pun, however immediately winced at Papyrus screaming "SANS!" right next to you.  
"oh, sorry. the door's name musta been gryffin." Sans shrugged, making Papyrus yell again. You decided to move and ducked away from Papyrus, who apparently had a speaker instead of vocal chords. You walked into the living room, rubbing your ear, sticking your pinky in to check for blood.  
"yeah, my bro's quite an earful." Sans said, startling you. You glance down at the small skeleton, bewildered as to how he could have followed you so quickly, especially without noise. Luckily his brother was in the kitchen and wasn't present to hear his pun, lest he start yelling again. On the bright side, Sans wasn't acting creepy anymore. You weren't exactly friends, but he seemed to have at least taken to your presence.  
After sitting in silence on the couch for a few minutes, waiting for Papyrus' spaghetti, which you were almost afraid to try, judging from the smells that wafted in from the kitchen, you decided that perhaps you should try your hand at making friends with Sans. You glanced over at him, finding him staring at the television, though nothing appeared to be on. You looked away, biting at your lip in thought. How were you to do this? Maybe approach with a pun, since he seemed to enjoy them so much? Yes, you could try that...  
As you looked over at him to speak, you were startled out of words to find that he was looking at you like that again--just staring, one eye glowing, in complete silence. Needless to say, it freaked you out. Recovering from your minor heart attack, you cleared your throat and began to speak, though you were really unsure of whether what you had in mind would be offensive or not.  
"S-So, you're really h-humerus..." You started, coughing lightly to ease the tension, and also partially because your throat burned like it was on fire. For some reason, though, you seemed almost used to it, and yet it had only just happened. Strange. Sans grinned at your inane pun and you couldn't help but smile back, feeling slightly triumphant as his creepy stare melted away into his normal, cheerful expression.  
"thanks. i try tibia little humerus once in a while, but my bro won't throw me a bone cause he's so hardheaded. once in a while he tells me that toucan play at that game, and that i should put a little more backbone into it, but his puns are in the wrong ballpark and aren't very punny."  
You were quite sure that your head was spinning after all of the puns that Sans just pulled in two and a half sentences. You were about to respond, but couldn't think of any other good puns or jokes, as you had never really thought about them before and thus didn't have much experience, and so you settled for just smiling at him. "Y-You're go--" You were cut off by a sudden coughing fit. That's right, your throat--you'd completely forgotten about that due to the conversation.  
Luckily for you, Papyrus had extravagant timing. He waltzed in just then with spaghetti and a cup of water on a sort of tray, announcing it as though he were on a talk show. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE MADE MY FAMOUS SPAGHETTI, SPECIALLY FOR MY NEW FRIEND!" You reached, gasping for air, for the water, however Papyrus didn't seem to take the hint. He instead set the tray on the table nearby as he tried to figure out what was wrong with you, and you snatched the water up and took a large drink.  
Pain flared in the back of your throat, and a scream wretched itself from your lips as you held your neck, trying desperately to calm the raging phantom inferno that tore havoc on your senses. You dropped the glass, which shattered at your feet, clawing at your neck in desperation. Sans and Papyrus were having no better a time than you, trying to catch you and seize your flailing before you knocked into something and either broke it, hurt yourself, or both. Papyrus was finally able to hold your arms down, though you still struggled.  
"CALM DOWN! WHAT'S WRONG?!" Papyrus cried. Sans wordlessly grabbed the water and took a look at it, remaining silent for a few seconds.  
"...bro, where'd you get this?"  
"I DIDN'T WANT OUR GUEST TO DRINK FROM THE TAP, AND SO I GOT WATER FROM THE FRIDGE!"  
"hate to break it to you, bro, but this isn't water. this is vinegar."  
Hearing this, you whimpered. In your plight, you must not have even noticed the strange smell, instead only thinking of relief from the fire that scorched the back of your throat.  
"WHAT?! OH, NO! HOW COULD THE GREAT PAPYRUS FAIL SO MISERABLY?!" Papyrus cried, his volume enticing a headache.  
"don't worry, bro." Sans said as he gently coaxed Papyrus to let you go, taking your hand and leading you towards the door. "i'll take him to get water."  
"WAIT, BUT WHAT ABOUT MY SPAGHETTI? YOU AREN'T TAKING HIM TO THAT HORRID GREASE TRAP, ARE YOU?!"  
"just save the spaghetti, bro. and like i said, don't worry. i'm not."  
You were a bit confused at the "grease trap" bit, but your throat hurt too much for you to protest and so you let Sans lead you out of the house. You walked for a bit in silence before Sans spoke up.  
"hey, listen, don't tell my bro i'm taking you here. he doesn't like it."  
He said simply, glancing over at you. You only nodded, albeit a little uncertainly. What was so bad about this place? You assumed that that was the "grease trap" Papyrus had referred to... Their version of a fast food restaurant, or...? Fast food restaurants were usually notorious for their grease, and he was taking you somewhere to get water, which they would have, so... Perhaps they had their own little McDonald's. Interesting. Maybe monsters weren't so different from humans after all. Then again, you weren't even sure if you were human or not, as you hadn't gotten a good look at yourself yet.  
Sans stopped in front of a bar with a sign up on the building which read "Grillby's". It didn't seem to be a bad place--not on the outside, at least. It was a quaint little building that almost had modesty to it, as it kept itself well clean and furnished properly, but didn't boast as the skyscrapers in the city did. It didn't stand out much among the other buildings, but strangely, once you knew it was there, you wouldn't forget. Sans led you inside and you couldn't help but feel as though you had seen it somewhere before...  
As you entered, you felt everyone's eyes on you and stopped dead in your tracks, more nervous now than ever. There were monsters of all kind in here--a few dogs, a fish, a horse, a rabbit--the bartender even appeared to be made out of fire! Your confusion and worry melted away, however, as most of the patrons shouted "Sans!" warmly to greet him, drowning out the sound as the bartender dropped the cup he'd been cleaning, which shattered as he watched you in some indiscernible expression perhaps akin to horror or absolute shock.  
You didn't notice this however, somehow too busy looking around at all of the patrons. Sans caught his expression, and hurried over to his usual seat, whispering something to the bartender. They looked up at you as you approached uncertainly, and the bartender's gaze fell to the floor as he moved to clean up the shattered cup which had gone mostly unnoticed to all but him. Sans patted the stool next to him and you sat, glancing over at the bartender, his back currently turned to you as he began to enter the kitchen, soon disappearing behind the door.  
You would have questioned Sans as to if the bartender was okay, or as to what they even said, but your throat was still sore and you didn't want to risk it. Oh, how you hated your luck sometimes. Actually, well, that was the only the second time you'd thought about hating your luck, but you were sure that you had hated it before--you just couldn't remember it. The thing was, not only had you forgotten everything, but you'd been dragged into a monster household and your throat had been set on fire. Well, on the bright side, at least they were nice monsters.  
"so, that was grillby. he'll be right back with some water for ya." Sans said simply. Oh, so that had been what they were talking about! You would have thanked Sans, but your throat hurt too much.  
Grillby soon came back out, and set a glass of water on the counter for you. You nodded slightly towards him in thanks, smiling at him before taking the cup and drinking it slowly. The water soothed your throat to an extent, however you were still afraid to talk just in case. You drank half of the water and then set it gently on the counter, sighing, opening your eyes and glancing down at the glass. You shrieked in surprise and quickly took your hands away to look at them, shocked. You now realized why your hands had felt so weird...  
There were _holes_ in them, and they were bone white.


	3. Remnants Of The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, people--well, one person for sure--seem to like this! So, I'm writing more, with that thought in mind. Even if only one person will read this I've never thought a fanfic out so profoundly and so much and it excites me, all of the things I can do with this. Now, if I could only stop procrastinating and tame my excitedness long enough to pace the story DX Also, this is the first story I'm actually writing on this site, so it probably looks weird compared to the others. Sorry :(

_Screams filled your ears and you grabbed the subject's throat, roaring at it in anger. "Shut up, you insolent fool!" You hissed, not wishing for your assistant to hear and find out what you were doing. That idiot always tried to stop you, always saying that it was wrong to harm others. Who did she think she was? Was she serious? In this world, this life, this timeline, it was kill or be killed. Nothing more. She was playing by your own rules, and you hated that. It reminded you of someone. You hated it._

_Growling, you injected the serum directly into the subject's bloodstream, their screams escalating as the power from the machine coursed through their blood. You covered their mouth, cussing, wishing that the school you'd gotten the specimen from had mentioned his tendency to scream. Yes, that was right... You'd gone to the local high school in search of a fitting subject. This one was perfect, though you would have preferred one skinnier and taller, due to the health problems involved with being...heavier, and due to the irritatingly immense difference in height; it didn't tend to ask questions and its laziness and lack of care in its grades in school gave you a perfect excuse to take it. You'd simply told the teachers and parents that you'd tutor it and improve its behavior. Of course, they hadn't realized exactly who you were... Poor, poor, stupid sods. You would absolutely ruin this child, and the other that you had taken as well._

_You glanced back at your second subject, which sat crying in it's cage, curled up into the fetal position. It was strangely taller and skinnier than the first, despite being younger. You almost pitied it. The teachers at the middle school you had taken it from assumed that it was simply a troublemaker and that it was stubborn due to its lack of parents. You, however, knew better--this thing was simply clumsy, and hadn't received a proper education. More so, it was too innocent and naive. This benefited you, nonetheless, because it only made it easier for you to fabricate a more believable excuse. You were to, similar to the last, tutor it, and you had also mentioned the behavior and considering to adopt it, which overjoyed the orphanage, supposedly because they had been wanting to get rid of it all along. Oh, yes, you had silently assured them, they would likely never see it again._

_You were no murderer, despite all of this. This wasn't blind killing that you were seeking--no, you were searching for an answer. This was for science, not for pleasure, although you couldn't ignore the fact that you enjoyed watching their pain. You had always been a sadist, and this didn't surprise you. You just hoped that it wouldn't get in the way of your work as it had in the past. Too many times had you failed an experiment because you had gone too far, wishing to hear the subject scream, or hoping to watch them squirm and cry and beg for your nonexistent mercy. It was intoxicating._

_Mesmerized, you watched as the subject's eye began to glow with the power, due to the chemical you'd injected directly into it. You'd never known the name, but it was persistent, giving it's owner immense power that simply could not be ignored. The owner was able to persist even death, and this intrigued you beyond measure. This is what drove you to harm these children--you needed to see how this chemical worked, and how much of it a single body could hold. This is why you turned up the machine, the subject screaming frantically, attempting to thrash._ _You tightened the restraints and grabbed a nearby rag, shoving it into its mouth. After the noise and movement had been taken care of, you turned up the machine, waiting for more of a reaction of power._

_Nothing. You scowled, turning it up higher. More screams. No results. Higher. More screams, more movement--but no results! Higher. More screams, more movement, the second experiment became frantic, and you turned the machine up past it's power limit, and--_

_...The screams had stopped and the movement had, as well, the machine automatically shutting itself down as a safety measure. You stared down at the blood on your lab coat, and looked up slowly at the subject. It... You... The power had..._

_Your face twisted into a wicked smile and you began to laugh. Never before had you seen such a macabre experiment. No, nothing so gory... And you loved it. You should have done this ages ago. Why, if you had known that too much of the chemical, too much power, made the subject_ explode _, you would have done this_ years _ago, and not just for the experiment. This... The sight of it all... It gave you an indescribable thrill and you couldn't wait to have more of it._

_You turned on your heel to face the second subject, which had been shocked into silence. You grabbed a tranquilizer and neared it, laughing. It screamed, but you didn't notice. You dug the needle into it's neck and injected the liquid, waiting for it to go limp. As it did, you unlocked the cage and drug it out, setting it near the table. Knocking the first body off after undoing it's restraints, you threw the second on and began to strap it down, not bothering to clean up any of the blood. Why should you? It was too beautiful to clean. Laughing, you hooked the subject up to the machine and started over, shocking it awake. You laughed at its pain, taking immense pleasure in turning up the power more and more until..._

_...it happened again. You made sure to watch it all this time._

* * *

 

You sat straight up in bed, panting heavily, distressed and panicking due to your nightmare. It didn't make any sense--had you just killed someone? No, two people?! Why?! You couldn't even control your movements, which had terrified you. You were just a spectator, and yet you had just mercilessly killed two others, as though you had been possessed! You enjoyed it, too, subconsciously, even... What was wrong with you? Had you been a psychopath before losing your memory?

You shuddered, shaking the thought out of your head and looking around. You hadn't remembered ever coming back and going to bed... After you had found that you had holes in your hands, what had happened? You may have passed out, due to... what, shock? Yes, that must have been it... Unless you were spiked, you'd never even touch alcohol, knowing what it oftentimes made others do and knowing the health risks involved.

You slowly raised out of the bed, glancing around the room. It was nice and cozy, with action figures on the table, a computer, a poster, a shelf full of books... You suspected this to be Papyrus' room, as Sans didn't strike you as the kind of person to ever have action figures. You moved quietly over to the window and looked outside... It seemed to be daylight, and you frowned at this. Did Papyrus sleep on the couch for the night? You didn't want to kick him out of his own bed, as it was very rude, however he had probably just been trying to be kind... But, could a skeleton get stiff joints? Couches aren't the most comfortable alternative to a bed, after all. Then again, you couldn't think of anything else that beat a bed, either.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, you walked over to the door and opened it, peaking out to glance down the hall. It didn't look like either Sans or Papyrus were up, but then again, they could have been downstairs. Nonetheless, you padded down the hall and approached the stairs, pausing to listen for any noises. There didn't seem to be any, and so you started to head down the stairs, attempting to be as quiet as possible. You got to the bottom and entered the living room, seeing Sans sitting on the couch, staring at the television. That was weird--you hadn't heard him, and, more so, he didn't seem to actually be watching anything. 

"Um, hi..." You said softly, uncertainly. Truth be told, Sans still sort of freaked you out, despite the fact that he had stopped staring creepily at you. The nightmare and the fact that you still had no clue what had happened at the bar didn't really help this. Subconsciously, Sans also reminded you of one of the 'subjects', as you had referred to them, and this freaked you out beyond your own comprehension, if that was even possible. In simpler terms, you were frightened, and you weren't quite sure why.

Sans turned to look at you slowly. "hey." He said simply, before turning to look back at the television. You slowly moved over and sat next to him on the couch, albeit a bit reluctantly. He continued to watch the black screen as though there was a show on, even startling you with a chuckle. You sat there, unsure of what to say, before deciding to ask about last night. 

"So, uh...what happened? At Grillby's, I mean." You even struggled to remember the name of the bar. That couldn't be a good sign.

"you passed out after shrieking about something. you alright, by the way?" Sans looked over at you and you nodded, both at his question and the intake of the new information. So, you had simply passed out...from shock, you assumed. After all, it's not everyday you find that you have holes in your hands. Speaking of which...

You glanced down at your hands, staring at the holes. You put your palm up to your eye, looking through the hole. Bringing your hand back down to your lap, you poked at the holes. They didn't seem to hurt, so you must have had them for a while. But what could have caused them? Perhaps you were born with them? But, that was highly improbable, wasn't it? Humans aren't usually born with such a profound deformity. Then again, were you even human?

This question caused you to pause. Silently, you got up, walking into the bathroom. You closed the door behind you and looked into the mirror, your heart dropping into your stomach. You were definitely not a human... You ran your fingers along the two cracks on your face and stared at the two small purple lights that must have served as your eyes. You closed one eye, finding that the light completely disappeared. You reached up to feel your eye as it was closed, and found that your hand completely went through where the light had been and into the crevice that seemed to be an eye socket. You rubbed the back of it and shuddered, retracting your hand. That felt so strange... It was almost as though you were scratching the inside of your skull.

Minutes, maybe hours passed. You couldn't tell. You were too busy staring at yourself, noting how... _creepy_ you were. Why, you even terrified yourself. You thought back to the nightmare... Your face... Did it belong to a sadistic murderer, who must have killed hundreds--possibly _thousands_ of subjects for their own self pleasure? You shuddered again, finding that it was suddenly very cold. You looked around, though found nothing, and looked back to the mirror, leaning in to see yourself better. Were you... Were you a murderer?

A knock at the door startled you out of your thoughts. You glanced over before opening it, looking down at Sans, who stared up at you. You realized how tall you were, now, in comparison to...well, everyone. 

"hey. you've been in there for a while. you okay?" Sans asked, watching you. You nodded absentmindedly, looking away for a moment before making eye contact as he spoke again. 

"well, it's almost morning. if you like, i can take you around in a bit to find a job, that way you can make some money." Sans offered. You paused. Did you really want a job...? Yes, you told yourself, you needed one. You couldn't expect to leech off of Sans and Papyrus forever, after all. More so, you needed to pay for food, and clothing, especially. You currently only had the one outfit, which was unfortunately already getting dirty and torn...

You nodded to his offer and Sans nodded before disappearing off into the kitchen. You walked back into the living room and sat on the couch, pausing, finding that the television was now playing a show. It seemed to be called  _Cooking With a Killer Robot,_ and featured a robot who seemed to be making some sort of cake at the moment. That was strange... Perhaps Sans had actually turned the television on while you were in the bathroom. 

"alright, you ready?" Sans voice surprised you after the few minutes of silence, and you looked back at him, finding that he had taken his house slippers off and put on a pair of sneakers, as well as put on a shirt underneath his jacket. You nodded and stood, walking over to him. He held his hand out, and you took it uncertainly, unsure of what he was doing.

A strange sensation overtook you as you blinked, rubbing at your eye with your free hand. When you opened them, you were surprised to see that you were out in the city--one of the human cities--in front of a school of sorts. 

"this is where i work." Sans stated, staring up at the building after releasing your hand. He then turned to look at you. "ready?" You nodded, bewildered, and Sans led you inside. You stared at the students who conversed around you, and who occasionally would stare back, looking at each other. Sans led you to the principal's office, and you attracted even more stares and odd looks, which made you uneasy, similar to what had happened when you first entered Grillby's--except this time, you were sure that no one was going to suddenly turn friendly.

You couldn't help but feel as though something bad were about to happen...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, sorry this is so short. I really want to hurry and get this chapter out and I have no clue why. Hopefully, the next one will be a bit longer :)


	4. Disappearing Books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing this immediately after the last and I really hope that maybe someone likes it. I'm going to try and make this one longer, too, but I'm sorry if I don't succeed. Hope you like it anyway!

"I already told you  _no_ , you worthless little brat!" You winced at the principal's raise of tone, cringing. You now understood why Sans had prompted you to wait outside of the office door, and you questioned yourself as to how he could possibly be alright with being yelled at and called a worthless brat.

"oh, come on, man, you should reconsider. i need an assistant, you know." You heard Sans say, followed by more yelling.

"Unless you want to lose your job, I suggest you shut up and get out of here! Get to work!" 

Sans wordlessly walked out, joining you outside the office, sitting next to you in a chair. You looked down, feeling awful. This was your fault, of course. Then again, Sans himself seemed completely fine with it, strangely enough. You glanced over at him, watching him for a few moments, expecting him to break the silence. He didn't, not at first. And so, minutes passed, with you sitting there awkwardly, looking around. The first bell rang, signaling the beginning of class, and Sans got up, stretching.

"well, sorry about that. i've got to work, so why don't you join me? you can think of what you want to do, then." He said, looking over at you. You smiled slightly, though your eyes betrayed you, showing sadness, as you still felt guilt as to being the reason of him being yelled at, and nodded, getting up as well. Sans took your hand and did that weird "shortcut" thing again, and... well, you could have sworn that you felt your lungs switch sides. That would really take some getting used to.

Coughing, you looked around unsurely, seeing that you were in a library of sorts. You looked down at Sans, and you must have looked confused, because he began to explain. 

"i'm the librarian. it's a perfect job for a lazybones like me." Sans said, winking slightly. You honestly couldn't understand how he could wink, seeing as how he had no eyelids, but you decided not to question it, instead looking around. There were many shelves around the room, stacked high with books categorized via the Dewey decimal system. You'd never learned this system and so it was very unlikely that you'd ever be able to actually find a specific book. You also highly doubted that Sans had taken the time to learn this system and so you hoped that there was a computer somewhere in the library which could help you find a book should you need to.

"anyway, feel free to just hang around. i'll take you out somewhere at lunch if you want." With that, Sans trudged over to the librarian's desk and sat in the office chair, laying his head on the desk and appearing to fall asleep. You couldn't really say you blamed him--just how much sleep had he gotten, anyway? Something told you that he was a bit of an insomniac.

You quietly moved around, looking at the shelves and at the books and occasionally picking out a book to look at before putting it back. You stumbled across what must have been the science section, and... well, you couldn't seem to stumble away. Something drew you to that section, though you had no clue what, and you couldn't help but pick out a few books to read, looking over the titles.  _Great Achievements of The Science Industry_ , _Science and_ _Economical Advancements, Etiology and Phlebotomy,_ and  _The Horrors of Biology_ were among some of the titles you found.

As you were traveling over to a table to set the books down on and begin reading, you noticed a strangely untitled book lying on top of one of the shelves. After setting all of your science books down, you went over and retrieved it, opening it to the first page. 

It was blank.

Frowning, you flipping through the entire book, finding that it was indeed a blank book. You sighed and flipped back to the first page, your eyes widening to find that it was now filled with text. You looked around, trying to see if someone was trying to play a prank on you, but saw no one, and then rubbed your eyes, blinking, looking back down at the page. After repeatedly assuring yourself that you were not insane, you began to read. 

" _There are no known records of the scientist known as W. D. Gaster, however many believe that he created the Core, which was the source of power for the entire Underground. The Underground was where the humans chased the monsters long ago, and where they called home. It is believed that W. D. Gaster was the royal scientist for king Asgore Dreemurr, before he fell into his own creation, presumably the Core._

_No one seems to know exactly what happened to him. Some say that he was torn across time and space, and others say that he was murdered due to the horrible experiments he would conduct. Some say that he was brilliant, while others say he was a monster. Some may call him a father, and others a tutor. Others may simply call him a murderer. Everyone can agree, however, that he disappeared. They may disagree on whether he will come back or not.  
_

_But, you know the answer to that, don't you..._

_**G A S T E R ?** " _

You heard a wicked cackle sound from just behind you and yelped as you dropped the book, spinning around quickly, only to find that there was nothing there. You sighed, partially in relief, and turned back, picking up the book and flipping back through the pages. It was simply blank again, and you rubbed at your eyes, deciding that you should really get them checked. As you moved to put the book up, however, you noticed that there was now an author's name seemingly crudely engraved into the book's cover.

" ** _CHARA_** "

You frowned, as that name seemed almost familiar to you. As you pondered its origins, however, it faded from the book's surface before your eyes. Wordlessly you put the book away and closed your eyes, pinching at the bridge of your nose, feeling a migraine coming on again. You were very seriously doubting your sanity, what with the nightmares and disappearing words in the magical disappearing books--

Your eyes shot open and you grabbed at the books, sifting through them to find the one you'd just put up. It was gone. That bit wasn't as surprising as the fact that you actually knew that before you'd even opened your eyes was. How could you possibly have subconsciously realized that the book had disappeared? Then again, you thought as you sighed, you'd likely just suspected that it had. Maybe this was just all due to lack of sleep, which was very believable. 

Slowly, you turned towards the table you'd set the books on and found them still there, which was relieving. You trotted over to the table and took a seat at it, laying your head in your arms and allowing yourself to drift off to sleep, mimicking Sans over at his desk. There was a difference between you two, however, which you didn't notice as you began to fall asleep...

Sans wasn't actually sleeping, and he was watching you with sinister intent.

And that intent was to ensure that you would not be able to rest without your past coming back to haunt you.

 ~~ _Y o u  m o n s t e r_~~  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I completely failed, because I was too excited about someone reading to write more. Dangit.


	5. A Vision, and a Job

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one will be longer, right? Yeah, course! Also, I'm using an oc in this chapter, so... don't kill me, alright? There will be more, but it's necessary. There aren't any humans in Undertale, after all. Well, besides Chara and Frisk.  
> Also! There are a few things in the chapter-- Firstly, there's Italian. Nothing too complex, so you should be fine. Secondly, there'll probably be things like (Y/N) or (Y/B). (Y/N) just means 'your name', and (Y/B) means 'your birthday'. See, now you're apart of the story! ^ ^  
> (If you're a girl, just use the male equivalent of your name, or a nickname sounding like a guy's name. Sorry about the main character being a guy, but, hey, at least you can pretend to be a guy, right? Heh... No? Yeah, sorry...)
> 
> Also, before I forget! Thanks to everyone who's given me kudos and commented! I really appreciate it, and I hope you like this chapter, too! You guys are awesome :)

~~_ThedarknessisrippingintomysoulrippingtearingburningsearingGodpleasehelpmeithurtsithurtsIcan'tseeI'mdyingI'mfallingI'msorryI'msosorryIcan'tstandthepainpleaseohGodpleasereleasemeIcan'tbreatheI'mdyingI'mdrowningI'mburningI'mfallingthepainthepainit'stoomuchIcan'tIcan'tplease **E N D M E** \--_ ~~

* * *

You shouted, jumping up, knocking over your chair in the process. You gasped for air, yelping, closing your eyes tightly to rid yourself of the nightmare's images. You barely remembered what had happened--you only remembered that it was terrifying, and that it had...hurt. Hurt, yes, as though, physically, it had affected you. But, of course, that couldn't be right... No, it couldn't be. It had just simply felt too real. That was it, yes...

"hey. you alright?" Sans spoke, startling you slightly. You opened your eyes and found yourself staring down at the skeleton, who stood across from you, a table between the both of you. You absentmindedly nodded, glancing downward, hoping you hadn't startled him too much. 

"well, it's lunch time. i was gonna wake you up, but, ya know..." Sans looked back at the chair you'd knocked over before looking back up at you. "looks like you woke yourself up, buddy." You looked down, unsure of what to say, and so Sans continued for you. "anyway, i was thinkin' that we should get something to eat, since you haven't eaten since...well, ever. afterwards we can go and look for a job for ya." 

You paused for a moment. You hadn't really even noticed that you hadn't eaten. Were you even hungry? You thought for a moment, trying to feel...something, but you felt nothing. You didn't feel hungry, but you guessed that you were, since you hadn't eaten at all. Sans led you to the teacher's lounge, which, you took note of thankfully, was empty. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of ketchup, tossing a sandwich wrapped in paper that said 'Subway' at you. You caught it, however also almost dropped it.

"there. i think that's someone else's, but i'm sure they won't mind." Sans said simply, winking at you. You paused for a moment, uncertain of whether you should really eat this. You decided that, yes, you should, and began to unwrap it. Sans drunk his ketchup... Well. He acted as though he was and ruined his shirt when it spilled onto it. He didn't seem to realize that he didn't actually have a stomach... Then again, maybe he did and he just didn't care.

You absentmindedly took a bite out of the sandwich, pausing. You examined it for a few moments. Turkey...? Is that what that was? Huh. Weird. You'd never had a turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and cheese sandwich before. Though, it seemed fairly common, which was strange to you. Of course, maybe you had had it before, and you just didn't remember it. You lingered on that briefly. Those dreams, and your memory loss... Were they connected? Maybe... Maybe you'd lived a completely different life, and it was just all lost to you. Maybe you'd been a completely different person, a... a murderer.

You stopped eating, though you hadn't realized it. Sans watched you, pausing, himself, in the staining of his shirt. You thought simply, though you weren't really sure what about. You were...searching. Trying to find some sliver of a memory, hidden deep within your mind, behind locked doors, stuck and impossible to open. You felt a...a tug? You paused, and concentrated more. Yes, that... You felt it again. A small sensation, a whisper, beckoning you. You closed your eyes, and watched and waited. You felt the tug again, and this time, you saw something. You looked closer, but it seemed to become farther away as you did. As you focused, it became more and more difficult to see, until--

"--hey!" Sans' voice broke through your thoughts and you opened your eyes again, blinking. You looked around, but you... You didn't see him. In fact, you were in a completely different place. You slowly set the sandwich down on a nearby counter top, taking in your surroundings. Somehow, it seemed familiar. It seemed to be an abandoned laboratory of sorts. You paused. Was this... a vision? A hallucination? A dream? Maybe you'd never even really woken up. Had you? You frowned. Everything had seemed so real, but then again, the nightmares had, too. What was even real? What defined it? What was the difference between 'real' and fake? You didn't even know anymore.

You paused. There were...voices. You could hear them, clearly... But where were they coming from? Slowly, you walked towards a door, and turned the knob, opening it just a hair to peek through. The voices flooded into the room and filled your ears as you watched through the slight opening. Two shadows were illuminated on the wall in front of you, their owners off somewhere else, as you couldn't see them. Likely, they were somewhere off to the side... You didn't dare open the door more to see. What if they saw you? You didn't even know where you were...

You stopped and listened. They seemed to be arguing over something. Two voices, one nasal and quite feminine like, and the other--...Was that your voice?

" _ **I've already told you, you blasted reptile, it was a mistake!**_ **Your** _ **mistake! You calibrated the machine wrong!**_ "

" _Blowing up two people isn't a mistake! More so, Gaster, these were humans! The poor things fell down here, all alone--we were trying to_ help _them!_ " 

 Your eyes widened. They were talking about your dream--they had to be! So it was... It was true? You had... It had... You closed the door, shaking your head, closing your eyes tightly. No. No! It couldn't be true! You were no murderer, with or without your memory! It was just a dream--a hallucinated fabricated by your mind to play tricks on you. There was no way this was real! You would never harm anyone, especially people who needed help! It wasn't true... It couldn't be!

"--hey!" You opened your eyes and looked down at Sans, who frowned up at you, 'brows' furrowed in worry. "are you okay? you need to quit doing this stuff, man." You paused and glanced around, seeing that you were back in the teacher's lounge, everything normal again. It didn't look as though any time had even passed--you were even still holding the sandwich.

"What...happened?" You asked softly, looking down at Sans, who shrugged. "dunno. you stopped responding for a bit..." He stared up at you and you looked down thoughtfully, frowning. What  _was_ that just now?? Maybe... it... You really needed to find a way to get your mind off of this stuff. You'd heard before, you remembered, that if one was to wear themselves out by bedtime, then they would not have any nightmares. Work was a perfect way to do this, and so...

"Sans? Could we just... Go and look for a job now? Please?" You asked Sans softly, setting the sandwich down on a nearby counter. He frowned worriedly but nodded at you and took your hand before doing that...thing. Whatever it was. You were now outside of the school building in the city and you felt a little nauseous, but you ignored it, as it wasn't too severe. As least it didn't feel like any of your organs had switched sides this time. You sighed at that and looked down at the skeleton as he began to speak.

"alright, so where do you wanna start?" You paused at that. You...actually had no clue. You didn't know what you were good at, after all... What were you to start with? Where would you begin? You glanced around the city, then frowned thoughtfully. Hold on, who was even going to hire you? This was a human city, right? So, who in their right mind would hire a monster, of all things? Sans seemed to hear your question, somehow, because he began to speak.

"hey, so there's this place sorta like grillby's. it's a human joint, but the manager doesn't mind monsters. he's a bit...out there, but he might hire ya. he seems pretty nice." Sans said, watching you. You thought for a moment before nodding, however quickly adding "Hey, can we walk?" upon seeing Sans' eye begin to glow again, showing that he was about to do the transport thing again. He stopped and nodded, beginning to walk toward what you could only think was the human equivalent of Grillby's. You followed him, taking in the sites as you went. There was an office, a library, a cafe, a few restaurants, a super market, a grocery store, a toy store, a pet store... They sure had a wide variety of things in the human world, didn't they?

You paused. Yes, that was right... You were from the monster realm... The Underground, was it? You must have been. You were a monster, after all... You sighed and focused on where you were walking, not wanting to think about any of this anymore. You were absolutely losing your mind, in more ways that one. You no longer wished to dwell on your past, or even on events in the present--exploding bodies, disappearing books, random visions--it was just all so crazy. You didn't want to deal with it anymore. It was just too confusing and you sensed that you were even getting a headache. 

Sans stopped in front of a large restaurant titled simply "Enrico's". The sign was in a sort of cursive font and underneath had smaller words that said "casual Italian restaurant". You weren't sure why they needed to include the casual part, until, of course, you actually walked inside. It did have a certain warm, happy feeling to it, similar to Grillby's, except there were almost exclusively humans in there... With the exception of you two and you two alone. Some people fell silent when you walked in, but most just sort of glanced at you, shrugged, and continued your conversation, which made you feel a bit more content about your surroundings.

You did think that this human city was the closest to the monster town, so it was probably likely that they'd already seen a few monsters. Sans had also said that the manager didn't mind monsters, so it was likely that the restaurant had already had a few and the manager had welcomed them as equals to the rest of the humans inside. You smiled slightly at the thought as you looked around, taking in the sights.

It was slightly dark in here, which set a sort of mood, though not a negative one. There were fancy lights hanging over the tables, which reminded you of chandeliers, however they weren't as large. It was almost as though someone had taken a piece of a chandelier and had hung it above each of the tables. Or perhaps they'd found ice crystals hanging down off of a tree and saw that as inspiration for a lighting fixture... You weren't quite sure. There were tables and booths, the booths separated by stained glass with painted images of small birds and cherry blossom branches on them. The place was relatively busy, sort of a chattering hum falling over the place that was the conversation of the people inside. Everyone sounded happy; even the little toddlers who couldn't be quiet or sit still in the booths.

Sans walked up to the sort of pedestal near the door, where a waitress stood, and you followed. "Two?" She asked simply, looking over you both with a friendly smile. "actually," Sans started, "i'd like to see henry." He said with a smile of his own. She bowed, before moving off and exiting into what seemed to be the kitchen. The door was near the pedestal, towards the back and left of the restaurant, and there were two doors, one titled 'enter' and the other 'exit', both written in the same cursive as the sign out front. In front of the doors, there was an area where they would walk that reminded you of a stage, as there were small stairs that led down into the dining areas where everyone sat and talked over plates of delicious looking and smelling food. 

You stared out over everyone, astonished, almost dumbfounded. Before you could marvel anymore, however, a man with slightly tanned skin and greasy, wild black(or was it dark brown?) hair stepped out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a hand towel, followed by the waitress who had left a minute earlier. He grinned broadly, seeing Sans, and walked over in a few large steps, calling out to him. "Ciao, Sans! It is good to see you, amico mio!" He hugged Sans, patting his back before releasing him. "Ah, and I see you have brought a guest with you, fantastico! Nice to meet you!" He held out his hand for you to shake and you blinked confusedly at his friendliness before shaking his hand.

He shook yours--rather eagerly, you noted--before letting go and looking back at Sans, who was grinning broadly. "So, amico! What brings you back? My alfredo, eh?" He grinned and Sans chuckled slightly. "actually, henry, i was wondering if you could give my friend here a job." He said, looking back at you. Henry looked at you as well, and grinned at you. "Sure, sure! I'll just need a...colloquio, si?"

Sans nodded, and next thing you knew, you were being led into the kitchen by Henry, the man shouting explanations over the sounds of clinking dishes, chefs talking, and food being prepared. "I apologize, amico mio, my ufficio is placed behind the kitchens. See?" He opened a door and walked inside, leading you in, closing the door behind you as you entered. You looked around at the room, quite impressed, actually. The walls were a deep maroon and the desk was a dark mahogany, papers neatly stacked and all materials carefully and immaculately organized. That is to say, the room was very clean and presentable, despite only being the size of a small bedroom. There was a desk across from the door parallel to both the door and the wall, facing the former, a velvet red office chair behind it. Two more chairs sat up against the right wall, a small table, mahogany like the desk, up against the left wall with a single drawer in it. Simple as the room was, it was...cozy, almost.

"Please, please, take a seat! Don't be shy, eh?" He moved over to his desk, straightening a stack of papers, and you sat in one of the chairs, looking over at him. He was very...outgoing, yes. He had, as you observed earlier, wild hair that was fixed into a small, hurried ponytail, and it was evident that he had attempted to slick all of his hair back into it, however some strands still poked out and fell onto his face. He had deep, chocolate brown eyes, which looked warm and inviting, always shining with a friendly presence. You felt...content around him, you supposed. He was almost like a family member--like the uncle who always spoiled you despite your parents' protests, or like the grandpa that always told you jokes and made you smile.

He took a seat at his desk and laughed, making a beckoning gesture. "Come, come! Move the chair in front of the desk, eh? It will be easier to talk that way." You nodded and did that, sitting back down in front of him and watching as he got out a blank sheet of lined paper and a pen, writing something down. "Now, I'll assume that you don't have an application form, eh?" Sheepishly, you shook your head, and he chuckled. "Don't worry, amico. Nessun problema! Sans likely brought you here without any knowledge of this place, eh?" He looked up at you and you nodded to confirm that. He grinned and set his pen down.

"Well, then, first, you'll need a bit of an explanation, eh? Well, to start, I'm Enrico. Rude of me, to drag you in here without you knowing my name. Sans calls me Henry, as that is the English equivalent of my name. If you can't pronounce Enrico, just call me Henry, as he does." He paused to see your reaction and you nodded, making him smile. "Excellente. Now, as for the job, we need more waiters and waitresses. We've been getting more customers than we can keep up with, I'm afraid. That said, do you have any experience?"

You frowned slightly and reluctantly shook your head, worried that you'd lose the job because of this. He simply smiled reassuringly at you, however. "That's fine, amico! We'll just have to tutor you a bit before you begin working. Waiting tables is easy, once you get adjusted to the schedule. There are still a few requirements, but we'll get to those after I get some basic information about you. Bene?" 

You paused for a moment and nodded, assuming that he said something like "okay". He smiled at you. "Alright. Firstly, what is your name?" You paused. Well, you had heard from the book and the recent vision that it was... Gaster? But, was that really your name? Well, you couldn't just tell him that you didn't remember, could you? Well, maybe you could just make something up. 

"My name is (Y/N)." You tried, hoping to sound convincing. He smiled and wrote it down, nodding. "Meraviglioso nome! I can already tell that you're a male, so how about age?" Another pause followed this. That...was a good question. Maybe you were in your twenties? Yes, that was believable... You weren't too old, but you also weren't too young. Specifically, you'd guess that your age was...24? Yeah, sure.

"Twenty four." You answered. "Birthday, then? In case we have to throw a surprise party for you." Enrico laughed and you smiled, going with a random date. "(Y/B)." He nodded and wrote that down, as well, smiling at you. "So, any special skills?" You frowned slightly. "Not... That I'm aware of..." You said quietly, making Enrico frown. "Oh, amico, you shouldn't see yourself like that! Well, don't worry, I'm sure I can improve your self image." He scribbled down a little note off to the side and then smiled at you again.

The interview continued like that--more encouraging smiles and questions such as "How are you around other people" or "Do you have a good memory". The latter threw you off a bit, however you answered yes, because you seemed to have pretty good memory now that you had lost the rest of it. You suspected that this was because it had sort of cleaned up space. Enrico also spelled out the requirements, such as high stamina, active listening abilities, and coordination. You weren't sure about the last, but you did seem to be a good listener, and you were sure that you'd be able to keep up with everything. So, you told him that you could meet the requirements.

"Magnifico! If you'll come back tomorrow, I'll have everything ready for you, si?" Enrico said, grinning at you. You grinned back, pleased that you'd gotten yourself a job, at least temporarily, and you nodded happily at him. He led you out of his office and back to where Sans waited outside, waving goodbye to both of you as you left the restaurant.

"soooo...." Sans started after you had both exited, "didja get the job?" He questioned, to which you nodded eagerly. He smiled at this. "great. let's go home, and we can--" He winked at you, "-- _ketchup_ on the details."  You laughed at his pun and took his hand as he did the transportation teleportation thing, the both of you ending up back at home. Yes, home... You supposed that this was your home, now.

You winced, hearing Papyrus yell. "SANS!" He yelled, marching up to his brother and staring down at him. "YOU LEFT WITHOUT EVEN TELLING ME! DID YOU EVEN HAVE ANY BREAKFAST, BROTHER?!" Sans shrugged at this.

"wasn't hungry, bro. besides, i had to take our friend out to find a job."

"OH? DID HE GET ONE?"

"sure did."

"GREAT! I THINK CELEBRATORY SPAGHETTI IS IN ORDER!" Papyrus yelled, suddenly much more happy and enthusiastic as he walked into the kitchen, still yelling about spaghetti. You checked your ears for blood again and frowned slightly, feeling slightly dizzy. You decided to sit on the couch as you waited for Papyrus' spaghetti, watching the television, which, once again, was on that peculiar cooking show. You weren't sure how long the spaghetti would take, though, as Sans had disappeared into the kitchen as well, and you fell back asleep over the sounds of two skeleton brothers fighting with spaghetti and ketchup and a very fashionable killer robot baking a cake with a cheering crowd.

Well, so much for the high stamina thing, huh? You'd really have to work on a sleeping schedule.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, great! I'm pretty sure I succeeded in the whole 'longer chapter' thing. I don't know how interesting it is, though. Hope you enjoy, anyway! This chapter has also sparked new inspiration, and since I also have a three day weekend, I'll probably publish another chapter tomorrow, too! So, if you like this story, you can look forward to that! ^ ^
> 
> If you liked this chapter, comment on it. Maybe tell me how I could improve, or what pairing I should do? Don't be shy, okay? I know I need help, so thanks if you've commented. Also, really sorry if this is too confusing. I'll explain it, I swear! It'll just take a bit. :)
> 
> (Seriously, though. I really need to know what pairing to do, if any. I'm kinda lost on that part DX)


	6. At Grillby's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone's excited for this, and that makes me excited, too ^^ Sorry if the updates are a bit spastic, or crazy, or weird. I'm hyped up on cold medicine and pixy stix and it doesn't really help that I'm also a crazy bipolar teenager DX
> 
> Anyway, love ya peoples. Hope you like the chapter! :3

You opened your eyes slowly, blinking tiredly, stretching and yawning. You looked around, finding that you were still on the couch in the living room. Spaghetti sat on the table in front of you, and you were pleased to find that the nightmares seemed to have ceased. You must have woken from...too much sleep? Yes, that made sense, you thought as you got up, looking around. You found a clock on the table and picked it up, almost dropping it in surprise-- It was 9:00 in the morning already! No wonder no one was here! Sans must have been at work, Papyrus doing...whatever it was that Papyrus actually did. 

You looked around a bit awkwardly and unsurely, having absolutely no idea of what to do, now. Sans would probably be back to check on you around lunch, but for now... What were you to do? You had a few hours to burn. Wait, burn... Grillby's was only a short walk from the house. Maybe you could hang around there? It probably was fitting that you apologize for passing out in the bar...

You blushed, embarrassed, and looked down at that thought. You must have looked like such an idiot... You covered your face, feeling extremely insecure. But, you had to face it sooner or later, didn't you? And, besides, maybe they'd be kind about it. The patrons and the bartender... They all seemed really kind, so they'd forgive you, and you could even have lunch. Or... Well, you  _could_ , if you actually had money, which...you didn't. Still, you needed to face your fears and apologize. Now that Sans and Papyrus were gone, now was likely the time to do it.

Slowly, you made your way to the door and exited the house, looking around. You remembered which way Grillby's was and started towards it, shuddering at a few of the glances you attracted from the other monsters as you did. They were more curious, however, than scornful as the humans' had been, which was relieving. Still, you didn't like to bring attention to yourself, you found. You seemed to be quite shy... Which wasn't exactly a good thing, considering the fact that you now had a job that was sure to bring attention to yourself. Oh, joy...

Of course, it was fortunate that you had a job at all, you reminded yourself as you neared the bar. You paused outside of it, unsure of yourself. You took a deep breath in, and slowly entered, drawing the attention of most of the patrons. Nervously, you walked up to the bar and took a seat--the same you had when you had come in before, to be exact. Grillby, once he was done with another patron, moved over to you and you looked down uncertainly. "Um..." You tried, though he didn't seem to even hear you. You'd have to speak up, you guessed...

You took a deep breath in and spoke. "I-I'm sorry." You said, still softly, however he definitely heard you. He paused for a moment, then made a waving motion, as though to say _"it's fine"_ without actually saying anything. You nodded at him and looked down again, however he hovered near you, seeming confused. "I, um... That's all I wanted to say." You said, looking up at him. He gestured back towards the various liquors he had behind the bar, and you shook your head in response. Strange, it seemed you two were having a silent conversation:

_'Do you want anything?'_

'No, _thank you, I'm fine.'_

_'Are you sure?'_

_'Yes.'_

Grillby watched you for a few more moments before seeming to shrug and moving back to the center of the bar, returning to cleaning shot glasses. You watched him for a few moments, however then looked away, out the window. Okay, so, that was easy! Your nerves were strongly protesting, but you were fine, and you hadn't embarrassed yourself anymore(hopefully), so that was great. There was, however, the matter of what to do, now. You...honestly had no clue. You didn't really have anything else to do. You could just leave, of course, but...the warmth in here was so nice. And what were you to do back at Sans', anyway? Without the skeleton brothers there, you felt as though you were intruding or something. You felt rude, really, with them gone and you still in their house.

Come to think of it, why didn't they wake you up, anyway? You paused. That did seem strange. Maybe they just wanted to let you sleep, but... Why didn't they leave a note? Huh. Well, they probably had a perfectly logical reason for it. For instance, maybe they had been in a hurry. Well, you could just ask them when they got back. Then again... Didn't you have a job, now? Did that start today, or...? Enrico hadn't really specified an exact time for you to come, even. He seemed to run on his own schedule, and thus probably thought that everyone followed it and knew exactly what he meant by "sometime tomorrow". You sighed and this thought and looked back down at the counter.

You paused, seeing the orange glow of light closer than it had been before, and looked up to see Grillby in front of you again. You frowned slightly. "I-...Is there a problem...?" You asked softly. You didn't want to upset him, after all... Grillby shook his head, however continued to linger there, confusing you. "I... Um, do you need something?" He shook his head again, and you lapsed into silent once more. Well, if there was no problem, and he didn't need something, what...

Grillby gestured towards you, and you paused, frowning confusedly. "What?" You asked. He gestured again, and this time you seemed to understand--was he asking if  _you_ needed anything? Oh, that made sense. "Oh, uh...no, I'm okay." You answered him, smiling slightly to reassure him. He watched you for a few more moments, clearly confused as to why you were still here. You paused for a moment, uncertain of whether you should stay and explain yourself or just leave. Well, it couldn't hurt to stay, right? So...

"Um, Sans and Papyrus are gone and I don't really have anything to do. I thought that it'd be okay if I stayed here...?" It had meant to be a statement, however you'd turned it into more of a question towards the end. Grillby watched you for a few more moments, and you quickly added to it, not wanting to upset him or be a problem to him or anything like that. "I could always help you, if you need it, in exchange for you letting me stay here. I-If you do, that is, of course." Grillby shook his head at this.

**_"Just having you here is delightful."_ **

You jumped at the voice, however Grillby was already moving away. You looked around quickly, however it seemed that nobody else had heard it. Great, so you were going crazy again. You frowned, glancing over at Grillby, who seemed to be helping another customer. Then again... Maybe he had talked? But... Did he even have a mouth? Or vocal chords? Maybe he didn't, and instead had his own way of communicating, or... Or maybe your mind had fabricated a voice for him because you were loosing your marbles. You could have also been loosing screws, but, heck, they seemed to be already gone. 

You sighed softly and looked back out the window, clearing your mind. Which was more important--where the voice had come from, or what it had said?  _Just having you here is delightful..._ It sounded like it had been in response to what you'd said. So, had he said it...? No, that didn't make sense.  _How_ would he say it, even? You looked back over at him. He didn't seem like he actually had a voice... Why would he keep using gestures, then, if he could just talk? Maybe it was...difficult? Or... Man, this was giving you a headache.

You continued to watch him, looking for some sign of speech. What you found instead... Was actually kind of amazing. The patron he had been helping had ordered a sort of drink, though you didn't catch the name. Grillby poured a mixture of liquor into a shot glass, and... He touched the top of it. The liquid moved...sort of like a blanket, before a fire formed. The first few licks of fire traveled in from the outside rim of the glass, just on top of the liquid, to the center, colliding together to create a small flame.

Woah.

Did that just happen? You stared in wonder, watching as the patron grinned and seemed to congratulate Grillby before blowing out the flame and downing the shot. How could he... What even... You didn't even know what to say. It seemed like it shouldn't have been as surprising, and yet... It was. Somehow. You weren't sure how, really, it just...shocked you? Amazed you? You weren't sure.

You heard a deep sound, almost like someone clearing their throat, and you looked over to see Grillby staring at you. Your face flushed in embarrassment and you quickly whipped around to look out the window, flustered that he'd caught you staring. Great, now he'd think that you were some sort of weirdo... You didn't look as you heard footsteps approach you, and saw the orange light grow closer out of the corner of your eye. You heard the sound again and reluctantly glanced over at Grillby, who leaned over the counter slightly to see you. 

He seemed to raise an eyebrow--you could tell as there seemed to be an indent in the fire, strangely enough, if that made any sense--and hold up a small shot glass, as though to say  _"Want to see it again?"._ You paused slightly and turned completely to face him, nodding slowly. He nodded and sat the shot glass down, retrieving different liquors and mixing them before pouring the mixture into the glass. You watched as he lit the fire again, amazed. It looked almost like the liquor was silk, and the fire was creeping along the silk as it moved like waves in the sea, bursting modestly into a small spark of a flame reminding you of a smaller version of the creator itself. Modest, but amazing. Very amazing. Wow. 

You blushed slightly and looked down, coughing awkwardly. God, you were weird. He thought so, too--you could feel it. Any second now he'd kick you out for being the weirdest weirdo ever--

Grillby tapped on the bar lightly and you looked back up at him. He slid the drink towards you, nodding at you, as if to say  _"Well, go ahead."_ You paused. "I can...drink this? But I don't have any money..." You said softly, to which he shrugged and scooted the glass closer, nodding at you again. You slowly nodded, blowing out the fire. You picked up the glass, pausing. The heat... It was very hot, but somehow it didn't really burn you. It just felt...hot, but there was no pain with it. Strange. You put the glass to your lips and drank, albeit a bit uncertainly, setting the glass back down. It was a bit hot, yes, but...also delicious, actually. The taste reminded you of hot fudge and coffee, strangely enough, and you liked it.

You smiled happily at him. "Thank you." You said, and he nodded, before moving away to help a patron who had called his name. You watched him for a few moments, then looked back down at the glass, smiling. You suddenly felt a lot better, and you weren't sure of why--until, of course, you remembered that you'd just drank liquor and not hot fudge-filled coffee. Of course, it hadn't been that much liquor, but apparently enough to get you to feel a bit more...loose, as you felt more outgoing than you did when you'd entered. You also felt special and you had no clue why, but it made you happy. 

Since you felt more outgoing, you thought, why not talk to a few of the patrons? You paused for a moment and looked around. Most of them looked pretty friendly, so maybe you should try it. Slowly, you got up, and made your way over to the table of dogs in the center of the room. They all looked at you as you approached and you waved slightly. "Um... Hi. Got any room for conversation?" You had no clue where that came from but you rolled with it and it seemed to work. Two of the dogs, who kept each other close but still at a distance respectable to others around them, started to speak. 

"Of course! There's always room for conversation with fellow monsters!"

"(Yes, of course. What would you like to converse about?)" 

You paused. Hadn't really thought this out, had you? Damn. Um...

"How about...about this place. How do you like it here?" Well, it was better than nothing, you guessed.

"Oh, I like it!"

"(Yes, it's very wonderful.)"

"It is nice to have a place where dogs can hang out, but lesser really needs a partner to play poker with." One of the dogs at the table, who seemed to be smoking a dog treat, pointed out.

"Oh, yes! Why don't you play with him?"

"(Yes, why don't you?)"

You were taken slightly aback by this. "O-Oh, well, I don't know how to play poker..."

"We'll teach you!"

"(Yes, we can teach you! Come here.)"

And, so, before you knew it, you were learning about how to play poker from dogs. You weren't really sure that this was the strangest thing to happen to you, either. You still ended up losing to Lesser Dog, as you learned that he was called, but you suspected that that was because Doggo, Dogamy, and Dogaressa had kept barking advice at you and you had no clue what you were actually doing with it. However, you had made some new friends, as they had introduced themselves to you and you to them, and before you knew it it was lunchtime. The hours had flown by, since you'd been so busy losing at poker and listening to their instructions and advice.

Sans strolled in around this time and found you amongst the now eating dogs. He beckoned you towards him and you set the cards down, waving goodbye to the dogs before walking up to the shorter skeleton, smiling. "hey. looks like you've been busy, huh?" Sans said, grinning at you. You grinned back. "Yeah. I made some new friends." You stated rather proudly. "great. so, ready to get to henry's?"

You paused. Oh, that was right--your job! You'd completely forgotten. You'd even had liquor... Well, it wasn't very much, but still--was that acceptable? You highly doubted it. Sans noticed your hesitation and shrugged. "we don't have to go right away. in fact, ol' henry's probably expecting you to be there a lot later--around dinnertime, i'd say. so, you can just chill here." You thought about just 'chilling' here for a second, before remembering the bartender. Did Grillby still want you here? Did he still think it was delightful? You stopped, remembering the voice. Maybe... Maybe Sans knew something about it?

"Um... Sans?" You started.

"yeah?"

"Can Grillby speak?"

"well...kinda, yeah. not out loud though. sometimes he uses gestures, and other times..."

"Other times...?"

Sans shrugged. "well, it's hard to explain. you'll know it if ya hear it. so, anyway, you stayin' here or not?"

You looked back at Grillby, who was cleaning a glass. You glanced over at the dogs, whose tails wagged excitedly, and who ate hurriedly and happily. You looked around the bar, at all of the patrons, and inhaled the happy atmosphere, taking the warmth into your being. You thought about the dreams, and your ever apparent insanity and problems, and then you thought about this place--how nice it was, how it made you forget everything, and how it made you feel happy. How it made you feel welcome. How it made you feel remembered. You made a decision rather quickly.

"Yeah, Sans, I think I'll stay."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will have the job stuff and an actual advancement in plot, sorry. I wanted to stray away from the utter confusion that is my story line for a bit. XD


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